Oxford: The University of Sussex’s library has been spray painted by Just Stop Oil on Wednesday by climate activists.
A video posted on X by the climate change organisation captures a male student who ‘wanted to a teacher ‘ throw a bucket of orange paint on the walls of the library.
Among other targeted universities, on Tuesday, two students were seen climbing on The Forum building and the Stella Turk building on the Penryn Campus at the University of Exeter, respectively, and spray painting them.
Currently, a clean-up operation is being undertaken at the University of Oxford’s renowned Radcliffe Camera- part of the central Bodleian Library complex.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Thames Valley Police received complaints about damage to the walls and windows of the Radcliffe building. Two climate warriors, aged 18 years and 21 years, were spotted spraying orange paint across the main entrance of the building. The students were later arrested on the charges of criminal damages and the access to the library has been temporarily preempted to avoid further damages.
In a statement given to ITVX, a spokesman said: The University (of Oxford) does not support illegal action including any unlawful protesting and may within its powers, take any steps it considers appropriate against any students guilty of such behaviours.
Broderick McDonald, a PhD candidate at the University of Oxford and an Associate Fellow at King’s College London, expressed his views on social media, X, post the occurrence of the incident at Oxford.
“Blanket the square with billboards and posters all you like, but stop damaging historic buildings which then have to be pressure washed, wasting even more energy & water.”
The campaign group, Just Stop Oil, is set to protest at several other universities across the UK in the upcoming weeks against the new oil and gas projects.